Question about Titleist 904F ball flight and trajectory

[Newbie Collection Agency]

Hi, everyone. I've been lurking here for quite a while and love the site...I've been trying to figure something out and thought this might be a good place to start.

I'm a bit befuddled with dramatic differences between the ball flight and trajectory of my 19° Titleist 904F and 15° TaylorMade R7 Steel. What I'm trying to figure out is if the flight characteristics are due to shaft or club differences.

The ball flight on my 3 wood, TM R7 St (and my previous VSteel) is extremely high. Ball flight is like a proportionally flatter upside down "u"; the ball gets high quickly, apexes then drops on nearly the same trajectory as on its way up. Ball flight seems identical both on the way up and down.

On the other hand, my Titleist 5 wood with greater loft, does not go nearly as high and ball flight is dramatically different. The ball starts off very, very flat then trajectory changes suddenly upward (I'm reluctant to describe it as ballooning) then dies and drops.

What confuses me about this is that obviously the 15° club gets the ball in the air MUCH highr than the 19° club, and not only that, the ball trajectory/flight is extremely different. My first thought was that the 904 was designed to start the ball flatter. It would help to experiment by hitting a 15° 904F but I don't have access to one to confirm this. Does anyone know if the 904F is designed to do that? Whereas the R7 St (and Vsteel) is not?

My second thought was the shaft. I have a swing speed somewhere from 85-95 mph. The 904 has a YS-6 shaft in stiff flex, the R7 has the stock REAX in reg flex, and I hit the 904F approximately 205 yards and the R7 about 225. Could it be the shaft that's causing the difference?

Sorry for the long post. Any help would be great.

[iacas]

The shaft, the loft, and the design of the clubs can all lead to the things you've mentioned, including how you have the weights set up in the r7 Steel (which I think goes a little lower than the r7 TP/Ti).

Titleist fairway woods are typically as you describe - lower ball flight that climbs pretty well (don't forget that you've got added backspin with the extra loft, and the YS-6 is a very "tempo"-based shaft, so going after it will add some backspin) and lands softly.

I've hit both at 15 degrees, but aside from launching higher and having a slightly flatter angle of ascent, the r7 performs pretty similarly to the 904F.

But then again, I have to put all the weight in the toe on my r7 Steel (and on my TP as well) to stop the ball from going left...

And yeah, R flex vs. S has a lot to do with it too. You're comparing an apple and a cantaloupe at this point - different clubhead, loft, shaft, and bias (depending on your weighting).